


Train to Nowhere

by Zemmiphobia



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 07:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14786145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zemmiphobia/pseuds/Zemmiphobia
Summary: Sometimes the final adventure is a little longer than expected but life is a cycle and things always come back around eventually.





	Train to Nowhere

The train was like clockwork, as trains were wont to be. It arrived at a station promptly at eight each morning, regardless if the station it arrived at had a concept of time or occasionally, even a station at all. Somehow it always managed to fit itself into the space, sliding into place as if it had always been there. The logic of this was something quietly driving Kisuke mad, even after all these years.

Years? Maybe it was centuries, he had lost track long ago.

The train itself was generic, a scuffed metal box with cracked windows, hard plastic seats, and faded advertisements lining the walls. As he watched, the advertisements rippled, shifting from suggesting a green sludge drink popular at their last stop to a melon tea soft drink.

Kisuke stared at it for a moment and then gently nudged his companion, not taking his eyes away. Ichigo jerked in surprise and dropped the 4D puzzle he had been working on, grunting in annoyance as it rolled under the bench on the opposite side of the car.

“Wha—?” He stared to ask and then froze, following Kisuke’s line of sight. “Oh.”

They looked at each other, neither quite ready to be the first to say it. Hope was a fragile thing, after all and what could they gain from allowing it to sprout?

Before either of them could speak, however, the train came to a halt outside what looked like a busy train platform. Ichigo grabbed his toy and slipped into his pocket, following Kisuke outside. The train doors closed behind them and they watched as it flickered for a moment before disappearing completely.

“What now?” Ichigo asked, patting his bag absently as he looked around the platform. It looked familiar in the way that all public spaces did there were little details that kept catching his eye. A crack shaped like a dog behind one of the benches, a drink machine that looked older than god, a hole in the floor that the city had promised to fill and never had—

“Time for tea.”

Ichigo snorted but allowed the older man to pull him up the stairs and out of the building onto an even busier street. People flowed up and down the sidewalks like a tide, moving around them as they stood beside the door. A woman stood at their left playing a violin above an open case and a couple school girls eyed them, giggling behind their hands.

“I think.” Ichigo started, stopped, and then sighed. “I think there’s a good place a couple blocks from here.” The words were like coals but it felt good to say them, like a pressure being released. Kisuke smiled and brushed Ichigo’s hand with his own.

“Lead the way, I’m afraid I don’t remember this part of town.”

~-~

They have tea. And lunch. And then dinner while they stroll along the riverside. They stand at the water’s edge for a while in silence, Ichigo watching the sunset, Kisuke watching Ichigo. Even after all this time, Kisuke could never tire of the way the younger man’s hair lit up like a fire in the dying light and how the shadows curved over his cheek.

“It feels like a dream.” Ichigo admits, staring out over the water, Kisuke’s hand firmly in his now. It had been a casual gesture but Kisuke can feel the way Ichigo is gripping him, like a lifeline to reality.

“More than the world made of squiggles?” He asks, giving the younger man a reassuring squeeze of his own. “I personally was quite happy to leave that headache behind.”

Ichigo pulls back to himself, turning to smile at Kisuke. “Really? I guess I just imagined dragging you to the station while you tried to shove ‘samples’ in your pockets. That women looked ready to slap you to the next stop, old man”

Kisuke sniffs, pushing his hat firmly on his head to hide the twitch of his mouth. “I thought she was a tree.”

“Mmhmm, and not like you have a lab anyways.”

“Probably for the best.” Kisuke agrees, privately mourning the disappearance of his carefully collected specimen samples.

Ichigo grins and leans in, wiping away Kisuke’s pout with a brush of his lips. Kisuke, not about to be outdone, deepens the kiss until they’re both panting and his hat is on the grass, Ichigo’s fingers buried in his hair.

“Molesting an old man in public, Ichigo? For shame.” Kisuke whispers even as his hands drop lower until Ichigo is nearly purring.

“Shut up.” Ichigo responds on instinct before laughing and pressing another kiss to the edge of Kisuke’s jaw, which ends up getting Kisuke to do just that.

Its dark before they settle down, laying in the grass and staring up at the first familiar stars they’ve seen in an eternity. They’re both clothed but Ichigo has a hand inside Kisuke’s top. Every so often its thumb moves in a little circle, sending a little thrill of warmth down Kisuke’s spine. He doesn’t move, however, content to lay still.

“How much time left?” Ichigo asks after a long moment. Kisuke glances at him, surprised.

“Not ready to go?” He asks tentatively. “You haven’t asked that in a long time.”

Ichigo makes a noise between a sigh and a grunt, hand twitching where it lays on Kisuke’s chest. “Hasn’t mattered in a long time.” He mutters. Kisuke looks back at the stars.

“Twelve hours.” He says finally. “Give or take. Time enough to do some… sightseeing?”

“No.” Ichigo sits up, leaving Kisuke feeling much colder. With a sigh, the older man sits up as well and waits. After a moment, Ichigo snarls quietly. “I can hear you thinking.”

“I’m not thinking anything.” Kisuke protests, picking up his hat and dusting it off before putting it back on. “Nothing at all.” He adds loftily and is rewarded with a reluctant smile. “I am wondering, however,” Ichigo’s smile drops as Kisuke continues, “if it may be something you would regret not seeing.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Perhaps not,” Kisuke agrees slowly, taking Ichigo’s hand in his between them. “but this is the first time we’ve been—” _Home,_ is the word that hangs between them but even Kisuke can’t bring himself to say it. He coughs instead. “First time we’ve been in a familiar world. The chance may not come again.”

“What about you?” Ichigo snaps, though he doesn’t let go of Kisuke’s hand. “Should we just waltz over to the soul society? Go find Yorui—

Kisuke flinches.

“Shit, sorry.” Ichigo ducks his head. “That wasn’t fair.”

“No.” Kisuke takes a deep breath, trying to push away the vice around his lungs. “No, you’re correct, I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“Don’t do that,” Ichigo grumps, fisting the front of Kisuke’s clothes and pulling him for an apologetic kiss. “I was being an asshole.” He drops his head and presses his forehead against Kisuke’s shoulder. “I just can’t… what if they’re there? How am I suppose to leave if they’re…”

There are words between them. Words that have been there since the first stop, that neither of them has the courage to say. Just thinking about them makes Kisuke feel cold, shaky, and he can feel Ichigo tremble as well. They’re almost too big for his lips to form but if he doesn’t say them now, he thinks they might never say them.

“We—

Ichigo reaches up and kisses him again before pressing his forehead to his.

A scream rips through the air, high and pained, and it has them both on their feet before its even died away. Ichigo flash steps towards the sound, Kisuke at his heels, both with swords in hand.

The scene before them is one that has haunted both their memories. Kisuke hasn’t seen Masaki Kurosaki for a very long time but there is no forgetting her, not when his world revolves around her son. He flicks his eyes to Ichigo but the younger man is already moving, sword lashing out in brutal fury. Leaving him to it, Kisuke slips around the hollow and grabs both Masaki and the tiny boy beside her. He moves them a safe distance away and lets them go, watching as the child throws himself in his mother’s arms. Masaki pulls him close, murmuring comfort into his hair but her eyes are on Kisuke.

“Urahara?” She asks, words barely about a whisper. “How—?”

He forces a smile. “Just happened to be in the area, I’m afraid.”

On the other side of the bank, Ichigo is standing over the disintegrating corpse of the hollow. It’s not the one he remembers being responsible but it isn’t really that unexpected. After a moment where the only sound is the sobbing child, Ichigo sheathes Zangetsu and joins them, eyes on Masaki and the boy. She in turn is staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide. They only get wider as Kisuke takes Ichigo’s hand. Ichigo’s eyes close briefly at the touch before snapping open again, focusing on Kisuke.

“Ok.” He says quietly.

“Ok…?” Kisuke asks, just to be sure.

Ichigo takes a deep breath.

“Let’s stay.”

~-~

 

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies for any inaccuracies, its been a very, very long time since I actually watched Bleach!


End file.
